Granite Gear: Crown VC 60 review

-

This is not our typical post. This is not my traditional style. This is something that I must share.



Nearly two years ago, when Cap mentioned the idea of Packing It Out on the Appalachian Trail, we immediately took action toward making that dream happen. At that time, we both had considerable backgrounds in backpacking. Cap's experience included more ultralight style and my experience came from a background in trail maintenance where carrying heavy tools, large group meals and gear were essential. So upon deciding to remove all the litter we found from the trail, we realized we would often be carrying unknown amounts of weight along our journey. We needed to consider the gear we carried with great care, especially our packs, which would be our truest workhorse piece of gear.




Upon discussing options, we mutually agreed upon carrying Granite Gear packs for a variety of reasons including rugged durability, lightweight options, and comfortable load ratings. Now don't misunderstand me: yes, we now work with Granite Gear, but this review comes from the heart and we chose to use Granite Gear for the above reasons long before we met them and began our journey into collaboration. My pack of choice for our thru-hike cleanup efforts was the Crown VC 60. It is built from rugged Cordura fabrics, weighs in at just a hair over 2 lbs, and is rated to comfortably carry a 35 lb load.




Without any doubt, this pack became the true mule of our crew. On the AT, Cap used a Virga 2, although Goose and myself were glad to have the burly suspension of the Crown VC 60. Upon beginning this year's PCT effort, Cap had switched to a Crown and I was still using mine from the AT. With over 2,700 miles using my Crown VC 60, I can still say it is extremely comfortable, has repeatedly carried loads up to 60 lbs with relative comfort, has been abused by carrying sharp steel and glass trash, and has had every pocket stuffed to its max, yet still has zero tears or damage. This pack is undeniably the most durable piece of gear I have ever owned.




Knowing we would have potentially heavy loads of trash, we opted for this lightweight pack because we wanted to keep the base weight of our gear as low as possible so we had more litter-carrying capacity. On the AT, with base weights at 8 lbs, we succeeded in being some of the most ultralight hikers we met, but continually carried heavier loads (of litter) than other thru-hikers. Having a pack that weighs less than 2 lbs when the framesheet is removed enables us to be this minimal with our gear. Our multi-use foam sleeping pads replace the framesheet in the pack allowing us to still carry loads of 35 lbs and higher on a daily basis. Granite Gear's comfortable load rating for this pack is 35 lbs, and while this is a very comfortable weight to carry, I can speak from experience that the pack can handle much more weight if necessary without any issues. My pack has been weighed at 55 - 60 lbs more times than my body would like to admit.




There are many ways to thru-hike, many are successful, but some make more sense than others. In my experience I have seen way too many thru-hikers carrying the lightest packs they can buy, with the lightest load capacity with intentions of being ultralight hikers, only to see them on trail with terribly overloaded packs that are tearing apart at the seams. My personal opinion is to get a pack that is very lightweight, has options to make it lighter (removable framesheet and hipbelt), and a higher load capacity so that you can still succeed at being an ultralight hiker, but if you don't manage to figure out how to do with less, you will still have a comfortable pack for the entirety of your journey. And the next one. And the next one. I can say only positive things about the Crown VC 60, a pack that I have tested thoroughly over 2,700 miles and pushed to every limit that I can without so much as a single stitch failure. It is durable. It is lightweight. It can carry anything. It is the ultimate backpack for any thru-hike, but that's just my opinion.



Happy trails, Paul 'Spice' Twedt.


Comments

  1. UnknownJune 30, 2016 at 9:54 PM

    Thanks Paul ... very interesting review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Apriani AlvaJanuary 4, 2017 at 7:02 AM

    Hey... I'm Alva from Indonesia. You are all awesome. Be inspiration to the world.

    Please see travel.tribunnews.com, I write your story on there.

    Stay awesome, be inspiration!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ULD Hiking Shoe

-
Image
Ultimate Long Distance Hiking Shoe I'll just go ahead and be frank; I may have an addiction to footwear. From running sandals to work boots, shoes are definitely the piece of equipment I utilize the most and seemingly have the most variety of. It seems each shoe has a specific job, but more often than not I find myself using one shoe for everything. Does anyone else find themselves doing this!? During long distance hiking efforts, o The Lone Peak is the one shoe we see most often on the Pacific Crest Trail. We literally starting chanting "Follow Altra" at one point because you could always predict which way the trail went by the Altra marks in the dirt. Paul and I have worn the Lone Peak 2.5, 3.0, and 3.0 mid tops and can't say enough about them! I wanna focus this discussion on these three things: fit, durability and function. The combination of these three qualities can either make or break a shoe, and in regard to the Lone Peak, these qua
Read more

Foundations: Form

-
Image
Ill apologize in advance for our absence lately. The last few weeks have been incredible but we have not had cell phone service to share all of our thoughts. Alas, we are back to share our ramblings.  This week I will be introducing the first article of a monthly series we've decided to share. The series will be called the Foundations. The purpose behind this series is to share our primary areas of focus in regard to remaining healthy and happy while backpacking over 2,000 miles, again. The foundations include: Form, Strength, Efficiency and Grit. Throughout the remainder of this article I will focus on the first foundation, Form.  Form is a word you'll hear me say a ton on a daily basis. From the physical act of hiking well, to me nodding my head and praising others for doing an act with good form, it is a integral part of our daily lives. Form is the first foundation we strive for because it has such a profound effect on everything we do, including the subsequent foundations.
Read more

A Farewell to the Desert

-
Image
We're off to see the Lizard, the wonderful Lizard of Mojav, EH! Hello again! We've been singing that jingle to the sound of the Wizard of Oz for a few weeks now and figured we had to share. Our days in the desert are coming to an end soon and I feel the need to share some of what we learned while living in this powerful landscape. We have experienced weather of all sorts - much of which was unexpected, we learned how to thrive from the animals - primarily lizards, and have been awed as well as attacked by plants - quite literally. The very thought of a desert conjures thoughts of extreme heat and sun exposure for many, although for some folks it even comes to mind as quite cold and even snowy. It all depends on the time of day and elevation. In our month of desert travel we have experienced windless 100 degree days, waterless expanses stretching over 40 miles, windy nights below freezing that left our tents coated with ice and hoarfrost, and even thunder-snowstorms that we w
Read more